CRACKed
by Payprklip
Summary: Alea has the perfect body and the perfect life - at least, that's what it seems like to the public. But things aren't always what they seem. There's a fine line between Heaven and Hell and it's difficult to walk... AU
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey people :) This is just an idea I've had for a little while and decided to see how it would work out. This is the first chapter and I found I liked it quite a lot so I thought I might as well upload it - I'll still be writing my other fic too so don't worry :) Btw, 'Alea' is pronounced 'Al-ay-a'**

* * *

Alea shifted in her cell and willed the time away until one of her father's men came to bail her out.

"This is bullshit," She muttered under her breath. The bench was unyielding and uncomfortable, the walls were tacky and the whole place smelled like anaesthetic. It wasn't the first time she'd spent time in the cells at the local police station, but her criminal record was always wiped clean after each stint. Corruption within the force was rife and her father was loaded. Like, seriously, _loaded._

Still, she'd get a bollocking when she got home. If it wasn't her father, Durza would be more than happy to give her a few bruises. More than once she'd threatened to go to the child services and had ended up locked in her room for days. It wasn't that anyone believed she would, it was just the precedent.

"Hey!" She yelled, knowing the police officers posted to guard the cells would hear her, "Have you ever heard of something called 'central heating'? It's bloody freezing!"

The eye piece in her door slid open aggressively and a snide female officer smirked in at her.

"Naw. Is baby cold? Does baby want a blanket?"

"Piss off."

The woman laughed darkly and slid the tiny door shut again. God, she hated the police. Maybe it was the way she'd been brought up, but they pissed her off to no end. Strutting around like they owned the country, pretending to be such angels when they'd bend over backwards for you if they smelled even a hint of money. Corrupt bastards.

Thorn was in here somewhere too – not that he was in any danger. He and Murtagh were practically tied at the waist, and although he technically lived in the local orphanage he stayed at her father's house 90% of the time. Had his own room and everything. Not that they were short of space. And every day her father would make one of his 'Do I look like a charity shelter' comments and pretend to complain. He wasn't fooling anyone: they all knew he had a soft spot for his adopted son's best friend. Murtagh would always insist on paying Thorn's bail too – and his records.

She shifted on the bench again in an effort to find a near-comfortable position, but she'd been in here more than enough times to know that wasn't possible. The cells weren't exactly designed for comfort. She considered banging on the wall to see if Thorn was next door, but she doubted any sound would get through the thick material. She loved hanging around with Thorn and Murtagh – they were hilarious, especially when together. They were two years older than her and had nearly finished the sixth-form part of the school. She doubted they'd go to University. Not that they weren't clever enough, they just couldn't be fucked. Getting chucked out of their classrooms every other day and having an exclusion a month was how they rolled – and she knew cuz she did it too. School was boring. The only fun she got was bullying that prick Bromsson whenever she got the chance. The school made constant complaints about her and Murtagh's behaviour but her father didn't give a shit. Murtagh and Eragon kind of had a…vendetta thing going on.

Today she and Thorn had skipped school to smoke pot behind the orphanage but the police had turned up and arrested them for possession and consumption of class B drugs. Not for the first time. They wouldn't go to prison – or even have to turn up for a court hearing – because the police were squalor enough to turn a blind eye when a wad of money was waved in their face. She wondered who'd come to bail them today – probably Durza. Durza was her father's right hand man. He was the one that arranged most of the deals and when someone got too mouthy he'd be the one to arrange their 'accident'. Of course, there was no question that her father was in charge. Durza was scared shitless of him – they all were. Well…except Thorn she supposed.

She shivered and cursed the fact that all she was wearing was a thin crop top and three-quarter lengths. She was proud of her body and loved to show it off – to the envy of all the girls around her. Her flawless skin and D-Cup breasts were exactly what turned the guys on and she knew it. Her thick blonde hair and feisty attitude helped too. Her father didn't give a shit what she wore as long as she stayed out of his hair, but it wasn't like he was stupid. He had a 16 year old daughter who whorred around and did drugs and that was the truth. There was no point in covering it in butterflies. In all honesty he didn't care what she did as long as she didn't do anything stupid and get them all busted.

Rubbing the goose bumps on her arms, she hoped it wouldn't be too much longer until someone came to pick her up. No matter how long she rotted, her father would never allow her to spend the night. That was something he drew a line on.

* * *

A few hours later her door clanged open and the same female officer that had taunted her earlier was standing in the doorway.

"Lucky baby. Not going to be cold any more are we, baby?"

Alea's lip curled. "Get a life, fuzz."

She stood up and swaggered out of the cell, making sure to bang into the woman on her way out. Thorn was standing with another officer in the hallway, and the two shared a smirk. They didn't particularly like the fact that the police had broken up their party, but it was a buzz knowing they'd been bailed with no record yet again.

They made their way out into the reception area and Alea groaned internally to see Murtagh waiting for them. As a legal adult of 18 he was allowed to come and get them out, but he took pride in rubbing in the fact that she'd spent hours wallowing in a cell while he'd been lazing at home, contemplating coming to get her. She glared over at the dark haired man and tried to ignore his laughing grin as best she could. Gritting her teeth, she zoned out as the chief gave the old 'anti-drugs' talk and then signed the papers to release them. No one ever saw money exchanging hands, but it was certain that by tomorrow morning a considerable donation would be made to the police's coffers.

Alea hung back as they left the station, allowing Thorn to walk alongside his best friend. They were all silent, but she could tell that Murtagh was laughing at them.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!"

"But you were thinking it."

Thorn laughed, "Of course he was. He's an insufferable bastard. Mr '_I haven't been arrested in two months_'."

"Three."

Thorn punched him not-so-playfully on the shoulder, "Listen to the lady. Shut up."

"Hey! If you want a lift home you'd better be nice to me."

"_Please _tell me you brought the Pagani," Thorn begged, hands clasped in front of his face and eyes wide. He turned around to look at her, "We're going to ambush him if he hasn't."

"I might have done," Murtagh turned his face slightly so she could see his smirk. Murtagh's Pagani Zonda was his baby. He had the newest model furnished in black and red ordered before he even passed his driving test. The garage at her father's house was filled with expensive cars, but there was no denying that the Pagani was one of her and Thorn's favourites.

"Yes!" Thorn punched the air, "Knew it!" Then he turned to Alea and smirked, "Oh, two seats, looks like someone will have to sit in my lap…what a shame…"

Alea flicked him off, unconcerned.

"Don't know why you're so excited, Thorn, you're not having sex in my car," Murtagh cut in.

"Don't care," Thorn preened, "I'm going to be the one with the hot blonde in my lap."

"Maybe I'll just make you walk and I can take the 'hot blonde' for a spin in _my _car," Murtagh joked. They knew he wasn't serious.

"Whatever, Tag, you're just jealous she skipped school with me and didn't invite you."

"Urgh," Murtagh wrinkled his nose as he unlocked the car and they got in (Thorn giving her a sly wink as she settled in his lap), "God knows what you ended up doing. Not sure I would have wanted to see that – what did they arrest you for? Shagging in a public space?"

"Fuck off, Murtagh! We didn't do anything," Alea protested, slapping Thorn's hands as they travelled slowly north.

He gave them a sidelong glance and started the engine, reversing out of the space smoothly and exiting the car park. It was one of those looks that said 'Sure, whatever you say'. She huffed and ignored him, choosing instead to listen to the car's gentle purr as they sped down the road. They wouldn't get done for violating road safety laws when she was in Thorn's lap because the police were used to it. They knew that their family were a special case.

"Tag, can you drop me off at the shit hole?" (That was Thorn's nickname for the orphanage), "I'm gonna stay there tonight."

"Fuck off, Thorn, if I'm getting bollocked then you are too – it was your idea!"

Murtagh laughed and turned off the main road, navigating the more private lanes that led to her father's house like he knew them like the back of his hand. Probably did to be honest.

"You're out of luck, I'm afraid, my friend. If the King's pissed I wanna see it."

_The King. _That was her father's nickname. The name all the other drug lords gave him. He had a healthy dose of mystery surrounding him, but they all knew he was the boss, the chief. If he called in a favour yo ass better move fast.

"Bollocks." She heard Thorn mutter under his breath. No matter how much _The King _liked you, if you got his daughter arrested you were in for it.

She laughed and slapped his hands again, "Thorn! Stop being such a pervert!"

"Can't help it," he sighed, placing his hands on her thighs. She permitted the contact because she knew she wasn't gonna get any better. "You're just so hot…"

She snorted and muttered, "Pervert," under her breath again.

The rest of the journey passed in companionable silence. When the top of her father's so-called 'house' appeared over the well-kept hedge, Murtagh indicated and turned in to an entrance that you wouldn't have known was there if you didn't know to look for it. The gates were open as usual, but as usual Murtagh had to roll down the tinted window at the security hut. His identity was confirmed and the gate was raised.

"Oh shit."

_The King _was standing in front of the main doors, arms crossed and glaring. He'd obviously seen them coming on the security cameras and boy, did he look _pissed off._

Murtagh started laughing, "Oh man, I think you guys would be in less trouble if Thorn had knocked you up!"

"Oh shit."

He parked the car on the other side of the large feature fountain that served as a roundabout in the front drive. The gravel crackle smartly as he pulled to a stop.

"Aren't you going to park it in the garage?" Thorn asked, a little panicked.

"What? And miss all the fun?" Murtagh made a 'phhhsss' noise and took the keys out of the engine. "I'll get one of the staff to park it."

"But what if they scratch it?" Alea wheedled slyly.

"Yeah," Said Thorn, catching onto her plan quickly, "You know how clumsy they are…"

Murtagh's eyes narrowed, "They wouldn't dare."

"It'd be an accident, I'm sure…"

Murtagh dawdled, his hand hovering over the key, evidently split between watching the pair of them get done and looking after his baby.

"Oh, fuck it. I can pay for a paint job. And an 'accident'."

"You'd have someone killed for scratching your car? Oh man, you're pampered!" Thorn chortled.

They got out of the car, Alea hopping chirpily onto the gravel from Thorn's lap. She hurried up the steps and tried to make it past her father, "Hey, Dad! Fancy seeing you here! Aren't you busy working? You should go back to work. Nothing to see h-" He grabbed her arm and silence her with a glare. "No? Okay then…"

* * *

A few hours later she slammed her door shut and crossed the plush carpet to her desk. After booting up her laptop which took all of 5 seconds to load to the login screen, she stripped down to her underwear and dumped the old clothes in the washing basket. They reeked of pot anyway.

She bent down and typed her password in quickly, still clad in her matching underwear. It was all about the sexy-ness. Aqua blue and black pair today – from La Senza. It was one of her favourite shops and she loved seeing how uncomfortable her body guards got when she dragged them in. She found it hilarious to spend ages deciding which ones to pick – and sometimes she went in with the sole intention of not buying anything, but just watching them squirm.

Her curtains were wide open but it didn't matter because her room was at the back of the mansion in a kind of hidden bit. Her father didn't like guests oogling into her room when they came to visit. Neither did she. Most of them were old and perverted.

She went to the wardrobe and pulled on a form fitting sleeveless turtle neck in cream with a pair of black denim shorts. It was summer – nearly the end of school and she was currently nearing the end of her GCSEs. Only a couple more to go – not that she was counting. It didn't matter what she got – she was set for life. Exams were stupid. But then, she was one of these people who knew everything without even trying.

She scrolled down her Facebook wall, muttering: "Stupid hoes…Ew, shave…Yeah, great selfie _orange_' the whole time. She hated Facebook. Didn't even know why she had it. She updated her status to:

_Urgh, some people just need to chill out_

And then logged into Twitter. Her timeline was full of random shit that she didn't really care about, so after a while she put her laptop into sleep mode and went to bed herself. The staff would call her when it was time to eat.

* * *

**So there's the first chapter! Please let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I decided I enjoyed writing the first chapter so much, that I wrote the second the same day :) I haven't had any reviews yet BUT that's probably because I uploaded the chapters so late. That does mean I don't know what people liked or disliked about the other chapter, so if there're the same problems here, I apologise! **

* * *

She was woken by the 'blip' of her phone. She groaned and rolled over, fishing her phone out of her back pocket and typing in the 4 digit password. The time on the screen read '17:46'.

Murtagh had texted her:

_- Head's up_

She frowned and replied:

_ What for?_

_- Look out the window._

She grumbled at having to get up and padded over to the window. She leant over the desk and wondered why it was so dark outside. It shouldn't go dark for hours yet. Unless…

_ Fuck yeah._

_- You up for it? _

_ Fuck yeah._

_- Thorn's gone home…just you and me ;) Be ready in 5._

_ Meet me by the main entrance._

_- Already there._

She grinned and went over to the wardrobe for the third time today. She'd need something light but warm for the evening. She loved summer storms and tonight was promising to be thundery. Whenever the sky looked black for the evening she, Murtagh and Thorn drove to the local park and swam in the artificial pond. It was a huge thing –well kept, no wildlife and _freezing. _It was an adrenaline rush diving in and the temperature took your breath away: it was even better in the storms because the wind whipped up the water and the rain stung your face eagerly – the pain was electrifying.

3 minutes later she was down in the front hall with a hoody over her top and her hair in a messy bun. She'd taken off her eye make up and re-applied some water-proof mascara to her lashes. No matter what she was doing, there was no way she was going out without _any _make up on.

Murtagh grinned at her and led her the indoor way to the garage.

"Aren't we taking the Pagani?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm not having you drip water all over my car."

She rolled her eyes and got in one of the black Range Rovers with him. The seats were full leather – and white.

"You do realise we're gonna get these seats _filthy_, right?"

"Yup."

She laughed and buckled in, full of anticipation for the night. They probably weren't going to be back before midnight and she was _screwed _for school the next day. Oh well…fuck it.

* * *

They pulled up into an empty car park and stripped off all they deemed 'unessential'. Alea took off her shoes and hoodie, choosing to go barefoot. Murtagh did the same, but taking his shirt off too so all he was dressed in was a pair of trousers.

"You should take your top off too."

"Nice try," It was already chucking it down outside the car, "Come on."

They stepped outside and she immediately squealed as her feet found a puddle, "Shiiiittttttt!"

Murtagh only laughed and grabbed her hand, "Come on!"

They ran weirdly, trying to avoid stones and puddles – and swearing violently. By the time they reached the pond they were already drenched and freezing. The water was black and angry, frothing to reach them.

"Oh man, Thorn is gonna kick himself!" Murtagh yelled, before giving a 'whoop' and diving straight in. He resurfaced, spluttering swearwords and gasping. It was what the water did to you: it was so cold that your lungs forced you to take in air – even if there was no air. That was why it was so dangerous – not that they cared about that. "Are you coming or what?"

Her reply was to jump in nearly on top of him, causing him to swear loudly and dive aside. The frigid water closed over her head with a snap and for a few seconds all her body could register was the shock. Her throat closed, desperately trying to drag in oxygen but she didn't open her mouth. Then her feet found the bottom and she sprang back up, gasping and clinging to Murtagh's body.

"Ffffuckkk!"

He burst out laughing and pulled them further out into the water as thunder sounded deeply. Her fingers were numb as the rain continued to lash down and the coldness was bordering on painful. Suddenly Murtagh pushed her away and a sharp tug on her ankle made her go under again. She flailed wildly, eyes burning where she didn't close them fast enough.

"Murtagh!" She spluttered indignantly when she resurfaced, "You son of a bitch!"

He was creasing up laughing at her, "Oh my god, your face!"

"Fuck you!" She splashed him as hard as she could and jumped on his back, forcing him beneath the waterline. She held him under for a couple of seconds, but he was far stronger than she was. He struggled back up and she squealed when he practically fell on top of her, pushing her under yet again. This time she was forced to stay under for a lot longer because of the weight above her. She knew Murtagh wouldn't let her come to harm but it was a little scary all the same. Her lungs were bursting for air and she could hear the rain hitting the water above her head. When he finally let her up she hoisted herself onto his neck and choked, coughing up dirty water all down his back.

"You bastard," She growled, feeling him pull them even further out. It was much deeper in the centre – and she had to rely on him because there was no way she could touch the bottom. He pulled them so he was neck deep and she shivered against his body.

"Naw? You cold?"

"Duh!"

He laughed, "That'll teach you to try and beat me."

"Fuck you," she mumbled through frozen lips, "Move us back to the shallow bit!"

"Nope," He smirked, "Swim or stay here."

"Urgh. If I swim you'll sabotage me."

"Yup."

"Fuck –"

"Language, Alea," He teased slyly, "Otherwise I'll have to do what you ask…"

Her frozen brain took a few seconds to process what he meant.

"Careful now…Thorn will be angry that you're stealing his lines…"

"You haven't really fucked him, have you?" He frowned, "I mean, he's told me loads of times but I always figure he's kidding…"

She looked at him, "Oh, what? You think I'd sleep with _Thorn son of none?_"

"You slept with Roran Garrowsson," He defended hotly, trying to make out that his accusation was justified.

"No I did not! I _may _have made out with him when I was drunk _once_ – but that's it!"

"He's Bromsson's cousin!"

"I was drunk!"

"They're practically brothers!"

"I was drunk!"

"Was he drunk?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know! Anyway! What do you care if I slept with Thorn or not? I _didn't _by the way," She added hastily, her leg brushing his as the rain started to ease of and a flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

He huffed and began to pull them back towards the shallow end slowly, "I don't know. I just find it weird to think that a girl I slept with also slept with my best mate."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Well, I didn't," They pulled themselves out of the water, shivering and freezing cold. The rain had now completely stopped and they were dripping wet, "Come on, it's bloody freezing out here."

They made their way quickly across the mud to the Range Rover. Murtagh patted his trouser pockets for the keys and then groaned, "Shit!"

"_Please tell me you have the keys."_

"They must have fallen out of my pocket and into the pond!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Yup."

"What?"

"I'm kidding!" He laughed, holding up the keys and unlocking the car, "Your face!"

She clambered in hastily, not even bothering to curse him as she huddled in front of the air cons and waited for them to warm up. It took a few minutes but gradually heat began to filter into the car as Murtagh turned on the radio and handed her his dry shirt from the back seat. She looked at him blankly.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Put it on?"

"Oh…right…" She stripped off her turtle neck unbashfully, not caring what he saw. Hell, they'd slept together a couple of times so he'd seen it all before. She just wanted some dry clothing.

"Mm…blue and black…should have gone for red – it's more fiery: the colour of passion."

"Oh shut it," She muttered, pulling down her shorts underneath the shirt so that it was now the only thing she wore apart from her underwear. She was well aware of the fact that the wetness of the garments made them completely visible through his white shirt. It was far too big for her, coming down to her mid-thighs, "Did you wear this on purpose just so that you could see me in it?"

"Maybe…"

"Right, Casanova," She scoffed, "All about the ladies aren't we?"

He just grinned at her and turned up the radio. _Anarchy in the UK_ by the Sex Pistols began to blare out of the speakers and she giggled as Murtagh began to head bang violently.

"_I AM AN ANTI-CHRIST! _

_I AM AN ANARCHIST! _

_DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT _

_BUT I KNOW HOW TO GET IT!_

_I WANNA DESTROY THE PASSERBY_

'_COS I WANNA BE ANARCHY_

_NO DOGS BODY!"_

She slapped his arm, "Stop it!"

"What? This is a great song!"

"I don't care! You're being strange!"

"I thought you wanted to know what I do when I'm alone in my bedroom?"

"Ew!" She shuddered, "No! I do not want to get any images in my head thank you very much!"

"Why?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "What images were you thinking of?"

"Urgh! I don't know – you with that black girl that hangs around Bromsson? I don't know why you got at me for Roran when I know for a _fact _that you were shagging her in the disabled toilets on Monday."

"What?!" He spluttered, "How the fuck did you know that?"

"_I wanna be an anarchy,_

_And I wanna be an anarchy,_

_(Oh what a name)_

_And I wanna be an anarchist_

_(Again, I'm pissed, destroy)_" She sang the end of the song sweetly, primly ignoring him. The radio presenter came back on and announced it was half past ten before switching to _When you were Young _by The Killers.

"Laaaaaaayyaaaaaaa!" Murtagh whined, using her nickname, "How did you knowwwww?"

She smirked at him and hunkered down further by the air cons to try and get her hair semi-dry. Her feet were roasty-toasty now thanks to the Range Rover. "I have my sources," she tapped the side of her nose.

He huffed and started the engine properly. The headlights came on and blazed a light over the pond briefly before Murtagh reversed.

"Hey! We're not going back yet!"

"You have school in the morning," He reminded her, "And an exam."

She stared at him, "How did you know that? _I _don't even know that!"

He smirked across at her, "I have my sources," and then he tapped the side of his nose.

"Urgh. Whatever, Tag. Just drive slowly."

"Oh, come on! When have I _ever _driven slowly?"

"I'm still wet!"

"Well, I can fix that!"

"How?" She asked him suspiciously, wringing out a few strands of loose hair into the footwell.

"We can have sex in the back seat if you want," he told her, deadly serious.

"Tag! Not _that _kind of wet! Urgh! You have such a dirty mind!"

"Jesus, Lay! A man is driving a 4x4 topless next to you and you're wearing his shirt – aren't you even a _little _bit turned on?"

"No!" She huffed, turning and staring out of the window.

He laughed at her and focused on the road for a bit. The song ended and the radio presenter came back on, announcing that a local band would be performing live on air the next day. Then he passed over to the next presenter and soft jazz music started playing. Murtagh snorted and changed radio stations.

"What? Don't like a bit of sax, Tag?"

He eyed her stonily, "I like a bit of _sex_…"

"I'm not having sex with you in the back seat."

"Aw danggg!" He pretended to slap the steering wheel, "Give me one good reason!"

She pretended to think about it for a second, "One, we don't have any protection, two, you stink like stagnant water, three, this is my Dad's car, and four…I just don't want to."

"Well you stink like stagnant water too," he muttered, seeming insulted. She laughed and patted his arm comfortingly.

"I'm sure I do."

"And anyway, what has Roran Garrowsson got that I haven't?"

"I was drunk!"

"Were you drunk when you slept with me?"

"I didn't sleep with him! And no! Oh…which time?"

"All of them."

"I've only slept with you twice."

"Three times!"

"You can't be that good then!" She joked, "Maybe that's your answer!"

He growled at her, "For your information, I'm _amazing,_" Then he stopped, "You do _remember _the third time right? You were just kidding?"

She sighed, "Maybe I _was_ drunk…" then she saw his face, "I'm kidding! Naw, don't go all big eyes on me! I remember!"

* * *

When they got back to the house the shifts in the security hut had changed and they had to show their faces to a different security guard. All the cars in the residence had opaque tinted windows as a rule, so they had to roll the window down again. The cold night air hit them and Alea shivered, realising that she was still only in Murtagh's shirt. The guards were cautioned not to ask about where the residents had been, so they didn't have to explain themselves – however, they did get a few funny looks from the staff who probably suspected the wrong thing.

"You know, I should drive one of these times."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're 16."

"Didn't stop you having sex with me."

"Very funny," He parked up in the garage and turned off the engine. She turned around and retrieved her hoodie from the back seat and her shorts from the footwell, "I'd like my shirt back now, please."

"Very funny," she echoed him, slapping his outstretched hand away and climbing out. He chuckled and followed suit, locking the vehicle and handing the keys to the waiting staff member standing to attention by the wall. They made their way inside and up the stairs, ready to hide away in their respective rooms. They reached her door first, and she decided to take their game a little further, just to tease him. "In fact…you _can_ have your shirt back."

She crossed her arms and grasped the bottom of the shirt, pulling it over her head slowly and handing it to him with a blazing smile as if nothing was wrong. He was still staring as she shut the door in his face, dressed only in her bra and knickers.

_Well wasn't that fun._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait in upload, I was waiting to see if people liked it...and they did! So thank you to those of you who reviewed and I'm glad you want more! **

* * *

Her alarm went off at 7:00 the next morning and she wanted to die. Well. Maybe that was an over-statement…go back to sleep certainly. She groaned and rolled over, blindly hitting for the snooze button and already falling back under. Her hopes were shattered though when her hand knocked the touch-lamp and bright light blazed around the room.

"Ahh!" She screwed her eyes shut tightly until they'd become accustomed to the light and then sat up and switched off the alarm.

_Bloody school…_

Annoyed, she got out of bed and padded into her en-suite bathroom to shower. She turned the knob and stripped out of the football kit she slept in while she waited for the water to warm up. She was a massive fan of football but her favourite team were kind of…well they weren't awful. They were just in and out of the premiership league each season – much to Tag's amusement.

She washed her hair quickly and made sure to use plenty of conditioner – it smelled so good she could never resist it. After she'd finished she turned off the water and stepped out, towelling off and then going back into her bedroom to dress. She chose one of her favourite sets of underwear: purple and white to wear and then put on her school uniform. It was stupid in her eyes, to have to wear a uniform to school – but she didn't have a choice. When she'd first begun to go to school her father had decided to send her to a normal, non-paying place. He said he thought it was a 'more realistic' environment for her – but she was glad because the rules were so much more lax. She adjusted her skirt so that it was half the length it was supposed to be and left the top two buttons of her blouse undone. The material was thin so it was easy to see her bra through it – not that she cared. She fixed her tie around her neck and adjusted it so that it was stupidly short and loose – she hated being choked by those things. A navy blazer came last and she pushed the sleeves up to just below her elbows.

It took her a while to apply her make up – as it usually did. She put skin coloured eye shadow on and a thin line of eye liner above her lashes before putting a tiny amount of eye liner below her eye. She always used mascara instead of fake eyelashes because fake was tacky and her lashes were long enough as it was. Then she used a long lasting lipstick in dark red and straightened her hair. Perfect.

She waltzed out of her room and made her way to the huge kitchen to get breakfast. She walked in and switched on the light before making toast and getting some orange juice.

Long ago, when she was very small her father had taken her round the house and made her memorise were every weapon was so that if she was in trouble she could protect herself. He'd taught her how to handle a gun and made sure she could fire accurately. So when someone behind her said, "You're up early," she didn't hesitate to grab a gun from its place by the fridge, wheel around and point it at the man's head.

He was large – tall and wide, but not fat, with broad shoulders and huge muscles. The dark hair on his head had a buzz cut and he looked to be about the same age as her father – maybe a little younger. She lowered the gun but kept her eyes narrowed to him. The metal felt cold against her bare leg where it rested.

"What the hell are you doing here at this time, Barst?"

"Had a business meeting with your Dad…went all on night. We've only just finished," as he spoke her father walked into the kitchen, completely unawares as to what had just happened.

"Ah, Laya…why are you holding a gun?"

She glared at Barst and put the gun away, "I'm not."

Her father took the statement and went rifling through the cupboards as her toast popped up. For a reason she couldn't quite explain, she felt kind of self-conscious eating toast in front of one of the men who worked for her father. It was weird…and she felt his eyes on her all the time, although when she looked he was engaged in conversation with her father.

* * *

She was out of the house by 8:00 and one of the staff who'd just arrived drove her to school in one of the Range Rovers. She hopped out neatly, ignoring the stares from the other pupils hanging around in the car park, slung her bag over one shoulder and made her way to find the group she hung out with. She was used to people staring at her – especially lads.

She found them in the hall easily enough – they were the biggest, loudest group of them all and they all but jumped on her when she arrived.

"Laya! Wayyyy!" Was all she heard for a good minute, along with the occasional: "Lookin' hawwtttt!" Which she laughed at and ignored. Her best friend Aiden came over and slung an arm over her shoulder lazily in his version of a hug.

"Hey, Ace," She grinned at him chirpily. He returned her grin and removed his arm before launching into his daily rant about exams. She added in the bits that she knew she always did but he didn't seem to notice, carrying on about how maths was pointless.

"Do you remember in year 9 when sir asked you what one times one was and you said two?" Alea smirked.

Everyone laughed and Ace stuck his tongue out at her, "Shut up!"

She leant against the wall and stuck her hands in the pockets of her blazer, "It is bullshit though – like, when will I ever need to know 'Pythagoras theorem'?"

A girl with an orange face piped up, "You don't even know it now,"

"Whatever, Jackie. Like I said, I won't need it."

"Yeah," A lad called Moses chimed in, "But not everyone's Dad is a multi-millionaire you know!"

"Oh right, cuz we all know how poor you are, Moses," Someone else hit back, scoffing.

"Anyway, Laya's Dad isn't a multi-millionaire," Ace defended her, "…he's a multi-_billionaire_."

"Shut up!" Alea punched him in the shoulder as the group laughed.

"Come on," Ace chuckled, starting to drag her, "Our exam's in 5 and we need to put our bags away," a tirade of groans flowed as the group followed, along with a few "Oh God, don't remind me!"'s.

* * *

"Jesus!" Jackie screeched in the hallway afterwards, "That was awful!"

Alea laughed, "It wasn't that bad!"

"Yeah! But you didn't have Eragon Son-of-none sitting next to you and scribbling away like _this_!" She declared, miming with her tongue between her teeth and cross eyes. Ace, who'd just taken a swig of water, spluttered and sprayed it all over Alea before doubling over.

"Jesus, Ace!" Alea whined, disgusted, "I don't want to catch your Herpes thanks!"

"Laya," A lad named Tyler chuckled, "You can't catch Herpes that way."

"Whatever," She flicked him off and went about dusting the droplets of water from her blazer.

Ace was still snorting with laughter: "Oh my God! I was near you and that was literally him! With the tongue and everything!"

"Oh come on guys!" Alea protested, "You can't blame him for that…"

They all stared at her like she'd gone mad and Ace put a hand on her shoulder: "You 'kay?"

"Of course! But you can't…really! It's not his fault his family are a bunch of in-breds!"

"Fucking hell, Laya!" Someone laughed, "You don't even know who his parents were!"

"Well with a face like his what else could it be? No one is _that_ ugly…"

"Yeah right, I dunno – I reckon Tyler can give him a run for his money…" Ace quipped with a wink.

"Hey!" Came the response from Tyler (who in fairness looked like a bulldog who'd just run headlong into a brick wall), "I'll have you know the ladies love the unkempt look, right Jackie?"

"Definitely," Jackie nodded with no hint of a smirk.

"Hey! That's not cool man!" Ace argued, "You can't ask Jackie cuz you shagged her two nights ago!"

"Fuck off, Ace!"

"Ask Laya!"

"Urgh! No way – she's your best mate she'd just side with you!"

The ensuing argument lasted at least half an hour, before Alea announced she was going home.

"But you bunked off yesterday!" Moses shook his head in defeat.

"I don't have any more exams today so fuck this shit! …I don't…do I?" She turned to Ace who knew her timetable almost better than his own.

"Nah…you've only got one more exam and that's Spanish tomorrow morning."

"Great!" She chirped, "Well I'm sorted!"

"Fuck!" Someone cried, "Don't remind me about that!"

"Why?" Alea questioned, "Spanish is easy!"

"Not everyone has Spanish as a 2nd language, Laya," Jackie reminded her, "Some of us are actually normal? You know…one language instead of 7?"

"Uh! I don't know 7!"

"Hate to break it to you, but…French, Spanish, Italian, German, Gaelic, Welsh and Latin?" Ace counted them out on his fingers.

"Well since I know English too that makes 8," Alea reasoned.

"Smart arse."

"And anyway, I don't know Welsh or Gaelic _that _well…"

"What, you mean, you aren't fluent?" Ace teased, jabbing her in the ribs with his elbow.

"Hey! And shut up! I'm phoning to get a lift – you coming?" She asked Ace. He shrugged and nodded:

"Meh. Might as well. I'm finished now anyways – that was my last one."

"Lucky bastard!"

"I'm not the one who chose to do two extra subjects, Jack!"

"…Shut up…"

* * *

A light summer shower had started while they were in their exam, so Alea and Ace sat under a tree in the car park and took selfies on her phone while they waited to be picked up. They made stupid faces and pouted at the camera before Ace got bored and stole her phone, flicking through the messages before she could get it back.

"You're texting _James?_" He asked her incredulously when she finally had her phone back in hand and he had a ringing ear.

"Yeah? So?"

"_James? James Ryansson?_"

"Yeah…"

"You do realise he slept with Amy Reynassdaughter last month and got her preggers?"

"No! He did not!"

"Uh! _Yeah _he did!"

Her face must have been a picture, "He's off the contacts list then…dirty bastard…"

Ace laughed, "I swear I know more gossip than you."

"You probably do to be honest…" She agreed as a sleek black Lexus pulled up, "Come on…that's Thorn's car."

They jumped up and jogged over, piling themselves and their bags in the back.

"Hey Thorn!" Ace chimed, "Did you know Laya's been texting James Ryansson?"

She slapped him, "Shut up! And hey, Thorn, it's not tr – whooaaaaa!" She leapt at him from the back, "Did you dye your hair orange?!"

He grinned at her, "Only the front bit…" She bit her lip and shuffled back, "What?"

"Nothing."

"Whatttt?!"

"Itlookssexy." She mumbled quickly.

"Sorry?" He grinned, "Didn't catch that, you'll have to say it louder."

"It looks sexy!" She said loudly and turned away as he and Ace started laughing.

"That's why I had it done! It matches my eyes…" He replied in a dreamy voice.

The thing was, he wasn't even lying. Thorn had naturally jet black hair that he wore with a flick fringe above burning orange eyes. It was really weird, but they couldn't be described as anything else. The streak of orange now in the front of his hair matched his eyes perfectly – and it looked hot as fuck.

"Maybe I'll get mine done then, hey, Laya?" Ace joked, nudging her. She and Thorn laughed.

* * *

When they got home she ordered pizza for her, Ace, Thorn and Tag who was still in bed. Thorn told her he'd been there since 9 after a call from her Dad to come in early for work. He and Tag had worked for her Dad for a couple of years now – and they were both loaded. Officially The King was the manager of a weapons company that he'd started himself and built up from scratch. That was how he'd made his money and he still ran the company – but he did the drugs on the side. All that and he _still _managed to become the most successful Drug Lord in Britain. She didn't know how he managed it.

Her Dad had never hidden from her what he did and wasn't ashamed of it. He made sure that she knew never to tell anyone about the drugs from a young age and that she knew how to handle herself in a fight. He went to great efforts to keep her safe, but there was always a chance that something would go wrong. None of her friends at school knew about the illegal side of things. They – like the rest of the world – believed the official story. Only weapons. No drugs.

When the pizza arrived she ran to wake Tag up, bursting into his room and jumping on his bed.

"Murtagh! Wakey Wakey! Pizza! By the way, Ace is here." And then she ran back out before her pizza could go cold.

Tag came down about a minute after her – the call of pizza being too great to ignore – wearing nothing but a pair of grey joggers. His dark brown waves were ruffled since he'd had no time to do anything with them, but he delved into his box quickly and moaned when he stuffed the first piece into his mouth – whole.

"Fuuuugggeee…josdkjdkdfsjbvnafevno!"

"What?"

He chewed for a bit, and then replied, "I _saidddd_: Fuckkkk, how do you always know what I wannntttt?"

Alea leaned over to where he was sat next to her on the plush sofa and gazed at him through half-lidded eyes: "Because I'm a woman…" She whispered in her huskiest, sexiest voice. Then she winked and shoved more pizza in her mouth.

"Put a shirt on, Murtagh!" Ace scoffed, nicking some of Alea's pizza and earning a slap. They laughed.

* * *

**Author's Note: So who can guess which team Alea supports? English league of course... And I wasn't just listing a random load of countries when we found out Alea is a multi-linguist. They do all have a purpose/reason! And we got to see Murtagh without a shirt again woo! Next chapter is when things start to get interesting...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to update - I was working on my other fic :L Anyway, it all kicks off in this chapter so enjoy...**

* * *

She was woken by shouting. It wasn't the kind of non-serious arguing that usually made up her father's house…it was furious bawling – the kind that always ended with a gunshot. Suddenly wide awake, Alea sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes quickly to remove the sleep that had accumulated in the tear ducts. The alarm clock beside her read: 04:33. She'd only been asleep for about an hour, having stumbled in drunk in the early hours and collapsing on her bed fully clothed and falling immediately asleep. She winced at the thought of what she looked like after a long Friday night out with Ace to celebrate finishing their last exams.

The shouting quietened down for a minute before resuming with full gusto. Slipping her legs over the side of the bed, Alea made her way to the door with a quick glance in the mirror: she looked okay, considering. She opened it smoothly and made her way out into the corridor where the noise was increased two-fold and she fought the urge to clap her hands over her ears childishly as she wandered closer and closer to the source of the shouting. After all, she did have the beginnings of the dreaded hangover headache...

Her room was only on the first floor so when she gazed down the stairs she found herself looking down into the main entrance hall. Her father was standing at the bottom with a group of men: Murtagh, Thorn, Durza and a few others she didn't care to remember names for. So caught up in their arguing were they, that none of them saw her standing there in only a short, tight dress and bare feet.

"If we delay any longer we might as well shoot her ourselves!" One of the men was shouting, "It's madness!"

"Don't be stupid," Murtagh growled back, "She's safe here!"

"They know where she lives, they can take her!" Another replied heatedly, switching weight onto his other foot nervously.

"No they can't, Calhern – they would never have the balls to try and take the house," Durza laughed coldly, "You are most dimmed if you think they would."

Calhern bristled, "Of course I was not suggesting that! But they could have taken her tonight when she went out, or earlier when she went to school! They can take her any time she leaves the house!"

"My daughter is not so pampered as to make it as easy as you say, Calhern…" Her father's deep voice cut in loudly, "And if I must I will make sure she does not leave until the threat is over."

"Forgive me, King, but doesn't that defeat the objective of not telling her? And what you are talking about…it could be a very long time…" A wheedly man argued, his eyes shifting left and right and he dared to speak back to his boss.

"Keep your voice down!" Thorn hissed, "She's right upstairs, she'll hear you!"

"Not when she's as drunk as that, she won't."

"Yes, she will," All eyes swivelled up in a mixture of horror and guilt as Alea got bored of listening. She stood, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a fierce scowl on her face, "Now, which one of you is going to tell me what's going on?"

They all looked at each other sheepishly save her father, who remained aloof. He regarded her with black eyes and a cool expression – like he'd known she was there all along. Maybe he had, maybe he hadn't, she didn't care as long as she got some answers. They watched her as she descended the stairs slowly and carefully until she reached the bottom and looked up into their faces one by one.

"A minor hindrance, Miss Alea…nothing to worry about," Durza told her smoothly, red hair glinting and teeth flashing like a coiled snake, "Apologies for waking you."

She gazed at him for a second, "If it is minor why were you shouting so loud? And in future if you do not want people to hear you then perhaps you should take your conversations elsewhere."

"We –"

"Enough." A single word from her father made them all cringe visibly. His voice was so sharp it was a wonder they didn't get paper cuts, "If you wish to know then you shall – but it was not without reason we kept it from you," He continued mildly, looking at her with a blank face, "Someone has put a price on your – living – head and we were deciding on what course of action to take. Some of us want you to be moved somewhere a little more remote and secure, while others wish you to remain here where we can see you."

She cocked her head, "No need to argue anymore…I'm staying here."

She had no desire to be taken to some remote part of the world with only a bunch of dull body guards and the prospect of kidnap. She'd rather remain where she was – where she knew the area and the people and where she felt most secure.

"That is unfortunate…you see I wish for you to be taken elsewhere," Her father's eyes were deadly – he was telling her not to argue. She argued.

"Why?! There's no point!"

"Murtagh?" Her father looked over her head to where the young man stood.

She felt him step forward to address his boss, jostling her by accident. At the same time she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her neck and her hand flew up to touch the spot, "Ow! Watch what you're –" Her words faded away when she saw what Murtagh held in his hand: A tiny, empty syringe. "No." She stared at him, "No, no, no.." Her world grew darker and darker and then she collapsed, staring accusingly into Murtagh's face as he caught her.

* * *

She was groggy when she woke up. Her head was resting on a broad shoulder and a muscled arm but she couldn't care to look up and see who it was. Her stomach numbly registered the hum of an engine and the smooth motion of a car before her eyes opened and she looked ahead of her. The dimly lit stretch of road in front of the windscreen showed in orangey glow – laced with cat's eyes and lamp posts, two plush leather seats, a painfully bright glow of an in-built sat-nav and one head thrust dangerously close to hers.

Thorn grinned happily at her from the passenger seat, his outstretched hand offering her a Starburst.

"Want one? I saved you the green ones – I know you like them the best."

She blinked at him dumbly, and then settled back into her slumber, pulled down by the incredible weight of the drug.

* * *

The next time she woke up she was still in the car but it looked to be about mid-day. The car radio was on and something that sounded like Stereophonics was blaring out rudely. Alea squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the stabbing pain in her skull that was the beginnings of one killer headache. Already she felt the pull of the drug, but it was less than before. Shifting in her seat, she nestled herself more comfortably on the arm of the person next to her and looked up to see who it was.

Roran Garrowsson looked back at her with an eyebrow raised quizzically.

Her mouth fell open in an 'O' shape and she turned to her other side to see the constantly confused face of Eragon, adopted son of Brom. Her vision faded again, but she managed to mumble out a long-winded threat to Murtagh before she gave in.

* * *

It was evening when she finally woke up for good. The road was dark again and the cat's eyes glared angrily up from the centre of the tarmac and yowled about their bad luck. Or at least that's what it sounded like to Alea. What it actually was, was Abba 'singing' through the speakers.

"Turn it off," Alea growled, struggling to sit up by herself.

Murtagh turned around from the passenger seat this time, "Aw, Laya!"

"Off. Now."

He sighed and complied with her wish. The silence was golden.

"You're no fun, Laya," Murtagh muttered as he turned around again. Her eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry, who was it that _stabbed _me earlier, knocked me out and gave me the world's worst headache? Who was it that chose this god awful music to listen to?"

"You don't like Abba?" He asked innocently, knowing full well she found it as tasteful as a rhino in an antiques shop.

"When I get out of this car, Murtagh Morzansson, you had better run very fast," She threatened, fully intent upon living up to her earlier threat.

"Thorn, I'm scared," He stage whispered. She lunged for him but the seatbelt reacted and she ended up half strangled. Her headache worsened, "Are you like, on your period or something? Chill out!"

"Oh, you are gonna regret saying that."

"Thorn, quick, give me the Starbursts!"

Thorn chuckled and reached into the side pocket of his door, drawing out a huge pack of Starbust and handing it over. Murtagh held it out to her with an angel face and fighting a smile. Alea was torn. On the one hand, she was mad at him and wanted to tear his guts out, but on the other…green Starbursts were the _sex_.

She grabbed the bag off him as angrily as she could, "I'm still pissed with you, Murtagh!"

The fight with his smug smile lost, and he had to turn back to the road before she punched it off his face. After glaring at the back of his head for a second, she reached into the bag and unwrapped the first Starburst.

"See?" Went Thorn from the driver's seat as he watched her in the mirror, "Green's your favourite! It was a fight between M&M's and Starburst, but in the end, it was Starburst. Cuz you're supposed to have sweets when you go on a road trip, aren't you?"

She saw Murtagh roll his eyes in the mirror, "You're like an excited 7 year old."

"Shut up, Tag, no one asked you! I've never been on a road trip before! We've got sweets, you, me, Laya, Roran and Eragon! The whole crew! But we should have taken my Lexus, because frankly, no one goes on a road trip in a Range Rover."

"Since when have _Roran and Eragon _been part of the crew? And since when has there been a crew?" Alea asked while munching on her Starburst.

Thorn sighed, "Shush, Laya. They are now. All will be explained – _and _I thought we should have a crew because they always have crews in movies. You know, the action filled adrenaline junk rides! I really hope we get a shoot-out and then I rescue the hot damsel in distress and then she lets me have sex with her as a thank you."

Alea snorted, "And would I be the 'hot damsel in distress' in this highly unlikely scenario?" She glanced left and right at Eragon and Roran, "And you'd better explain soon."

"Of course! All will be revealed…"

"Okay, now stop at the next petrol station or Take a Break because I'm starving and I really need some pain killers for this mother fucker of a headache."

Thorn clacked his tongue and shook his head, "No can do – we stopped an hour ago," then he noticed her glare, "Buuuut…I'll make an exception for you, my damsel in distress!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later he pulled into a petrol station and parked up. Murtagh jogged into the shop and came out five minutes later with a couple of cans of Red Bull, a bottle of water, a pack of sandwiches, a tube of Pringles and some cheap pain killers. They started up on the motorway again as Alea tore into the pain killers and chugged a couple down eagerly. Then she cracked open one of the Red Bulls and the sandwiches.

"None for you," She told the rest of the car smugly, feeling like a 5 year old, "Mine."

"Yes, Gollum," Thorn laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hey people! Thank you soooo much for the reviews! I never expected such an enthusiastic response! I'm sorry it took so long to update but college has just started up and I'm a bit bogged down! I knew I needed to take the time to add another chapter so here it is! I really hope that everything is explained here as well as the relationship between Thorn and Alea being explored. Originally this was going to be a MurtaghxOC fic but pretty quickly I realised my story had other ideas! I love the character of Thorn because Paolini leaves him so unexplored in the books. We barely hear from him and as a human of course he would be different too! So having him as one of the main characters is really fun and I hope we get to find out about him as the story goes on! **

* * *

Thorn drove south for another couple of hours, during which Alea finished off the rest of her food and went back to sleep. Her father had taught her about the different drugs and she knew that she'd be in and out of sleep for at least the next three days. Part of her wished that she'd just seen the inevitable and not argued with her dad about leaving, but she had too much pride in her for that. She insisted that the radio be kept off because her head was really starting to bother her. The pain killers helped a lot but there was still a dull ache in her forehead and the side effect of them being so cheap was a certain grogginess which she did not appreciate on top of the afore said drug.

Her sleep was interrupted and troubled, and her neck began to ache from her position, but she didn't mention anything about it. She knew all she'd done was complain ever since she woke up and tensions would be running high enough with both Murtagh and Eragon in the car. None of them had any real experience with Roran so he wouldn't be too much of a problem…there had better be a good explanation for bringing the cousins along. She couldn't think of any reason for their being here. Just because some rival Drug Lord had put a price on her head it shouldn't involve them…and plus the fact that Eragon was the adopted son of the Ex-chief of police, it wouldn't be a good idea to give any more evidence that her father was a Drug Lord as the old man already suspected this.

So for two hours they drove on the deserted roads down (as far as she could tell) towards the coast. She drifted in and out of consciousness and Roran and Eragon sat unmoving and awkward on either side of her. Occasionally Tag and Thorn would exchange a quiet word, but for the most part it was quiet. She blinked herself awake when her body felt the car finally pull to a stop and peered around Roran to see what was outside. They were in an almost deserted car park on a harbour-side, and she thought she could see a sign for a ferry up in the distance.

"Ferry?" She questioned in a quiet voice, trying not to aggravate her headache. She knew it would only get worse before it got better and no amount of pain killers would be able to help. All the same, she was clear for another dosage now, so she pulled out the packet and took a couple more.

Thorn turned around tiredly and nodded, "We're a few minutes early, but we'll be boarding soon."

"France?"

"…To start with…" He looked a little guilty, "We'll be doing a lot more driving – after switching cars."

Alea tried not to show her alarm, "How much?"

He sighed, "I know being in a car isn't exactly going to help you out…but a lot. We'll end up in eastern Spain."

She thought about protesting briefly, but she knew he was just as tired as her having been driving for who knew how long and probably had a headache too. So instead of kicking up a fuss and demanding a change of plan, she just offered him her pain killers and leant back heavily. He accepted with a grateful smile and used the water to wash them down. Eragon and Tag had fallen asleep at some point over the past two hours, so her and Thorn poked their respective men awake (in Alea's case rather roughly) and Thorn set about explaining the situation.

"Okay…" He gave a heavy sigh, "Well. You know that someone has put a price on your kidnap – for a reason we don't know yet?"

She nodded carefully, avoiding any jerking movements.

"Well…This person is a Mexican Drug Lord – probably the most powerful over that side of the world – yeah," He added, noticing her grimace, "Not ideal. His name is Jose de Torres and he has _a lot _of contacts, and _a lot_ of people wanting to please him. The reward he's offering isn't exactly small either. But of course The King has a lot of contacts too: a whole network of spies or people wanting to get in his good books…so we found out about it pretty quickly. Your dad held quite a number of overnight meetings about this –"

"Mm," She murmured, interrupting, "He was with Barst a couple of days ago."

"Yes…anyway, we decided that we had two options that would be...realistic. The first would be to remain aware of the movements of the agents of this Jose but keep you at home where we could be sure of your safety and wait until the threat could be dealt with. The second would have been to take you north and leave you with the Swedish contacts that your Dad has. They were supposed to be highly reliable and their compound is one of the safest in the world. But while we were deciding which to choose, there was a development – that is, last night, we found out that the people that were supposedly the most reliable had been doing secret deals with de Torres."

"Well aren't you glad you didn't send me there?"

Thorn grimaced, "That's the thing: we very nearly did. Flights were booked, we knew who would travel with you and when – you were supposed to fly out this morning."

"Shiiitttt…." She breathed, thinking about how close she'd been to kidnap or worse.

"Yeah…well, your old man wasn't too happy about that – not at all. He was even more pissed when he learned about several agents of de Torres travelling towards the area who'd managed to get so close to you without being detected by his guys. At this point I think he was pretty much decided that you should be taken out of the area. Only problem was, where to? Once the Swedish contacts discovered you never boarded the plane they'd alert de Torres and the agents would swoop in and grab you – there was no way of us getting you out after that, so it had to be last night. It was such short notice that the only thing we could do was book a ferry – all flights had gone – and a hotel room in France. We were pretty much about to come and get you when you appeared."

"You said we were going to Spain?"

"Right…we can't use any of the safe houses now because you can bet that these Swedish guys will have given de Torres all their locations, so when we get to the hotel later we'll go online and buy ourselves a new one."

"Brilliant," Alea muttered, "So we don't actually have a plan?"

"Well…"

"And there's something else I don't get. Why are Pinky and Perky tagging along?"

"Turns out the Mexican police were tracking de Torres' movements. When they realised what was going on they alerted our police and the fuzz turned up at the house last night – just before you came back. We had no choice but to explain everything."

She gave him a hard look.

"Yeah, and by everything, I do mean everything."

"What - !"

"Don't freak out…there's a whole other story to this. Your dad's safe and will remain so – I'll explain later. But the police wanted assurances that we'd tell them where the agents were so they could pick them off one by one and nick 'em. They sent Roran as a way for them to get intel, and Eragon because he has all of Brom's contacts. They said we might need him."

"Right," Alea scoffed, "So effectively, they've sent a group of teenagers off without any assurance or protection."

Thorn scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "…Yeah…"

"Fantastic."

* * *

They passed through security easily, despite the fact that all the Range Rovers had multiple automatic and semi-automatic weapons stashed in various places. So when she'd said 'Without any protection', it wasn't strictly speaking true…but still.

Once they were on board the ferry they all got out the car awkwardly, stretching their cramped muscles and yawning. When they had, Alea suddenly became very aware of the fact that she was in the shortest dress ever made, bare legs, arms and feet and smudged make up applied for a night out in a dark nightclub. Her hair was a mess and she had a bruise on her neck that was caused by the syringe, but looked distinctly like a love bite. She was mainly made aware of this by Thorn and Murtagh smirking at each other, Roran looking determinedly away from her at all times and Eragon blushing deeply.

_Oh joy…_

They clambered up the steps to get out of the hold – her hanging back so none of them could look up her dress – and finally made their way into the main part of the ferry. It was pretty quiet since they were taking a night ferry, but all the bars and shops were open and operational. When she finally spotted a clothes shop that looked halfway decent, she grabbed Thorn's arm and dragged him inside with a sharp glare. After a few second's thought the rest of them followed her – after all, they'd all been sitting in a car in the same clothes for a little more than a day.

There were a couple of middle aged men working behind the counter, and she suddenly felt _very _self-conscious. The pair were leering at her unpleasantly, unashamedly checking her out in a way that she was pretty sure constituted as 'perverted'. She squirmed under their gaze, and stepped closer to Thorn's side.

"Thorn…"

He glanced down at her and then at the two men, before wrapping an arm around her waist and making it look as though they were together so as to try and deter them. At the same time he moved his body _slightly _around hers so that she was shielded from their view. She leaned into him gratefully and grabbed the first things she saw from the racks that were her size. The others did the same and then they made their way over to the counter. Thorn got out his card and paid for the whole lot while one of the men was bagging the items. When he got to the underwear that she'd picked out he stopped and leered before putting them in a separate bag on their own. She gritted her teeth and hid herself even more behind Thorn.

"That your lass?" The man behind the counter asked him as he picked up the bags and turned to leave.

"Yes," Alea answered for him quickly.

"Pity…any time you feel like comin' back, darlin'…" He offered.

"She won't be." Thorn said shortly, and then turned away. As they left he kept his arm wrapped tightly around her waist and she did the same to him.

Opposite the clothes shop was a pharmacy, so they all piled in and grabbed various items off the shelves. The lads picked up deodorant while she chose a hair brush, some basic make up, some perfume and baby wipes. All the while she refused to let go of Thorn's hand. It wasn't often that she felt self-conscious, but perhaps her situation made her feel much less sure of herself. She was no longer in the small town that she knew…she was away with nothing familiar save Tag and Thorn around her. Those men intimidated her and she didn't like it one little bit.

They headed for the toilets quickly so that they could change. Before they parted, Thorn handed Alea a new mobile from his pocket and told her all the numbers she needed were already programmed into it. She was told that she had a maximum of 5 minutes to get changed, otherwise they would storm the toilets and kick ass to anyone in there, including her. Just as the others were going into the men's, she grabbed Thorn's hand and whispered a quick 'Thank you!" in his ear. He looked down at her with an odd expression and then she went inside.

There was no one in the ladies so she stripped off quickly and put on her new clothes. She had a (thankfully) matching underwear set in blood red and black, white three-quarter lengths and a red tank top. She zipped up a black hoodie over the top since they were inside for now, and then turned to the mirror. She took off all of her make up and then reapplied some eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. She brushed her hair out and tied it up in a high pony tail with the thin hair band that had come with the brush. Finally, she liberally sprayed the perfume over herself. It was actually quite pleasant for a cheap pharmacy brand. Satisfied, she exited the bathroom, leaving her clothes in a pile in the corner for someone else to clean up.

The lads were waiting for her outside with strained expressions. She understood that they were all trying to get along for the sake of making this 'mission' that little bit more bearable, but all the same…she sensed that sooner or later one of them would snap, and her money was on either Tag, or Eragon.

She went to Thorn's side without a word and gripped his hand again. Despite being a lot more covered up now, she still felt…well. She knew he would understand…he always did when it came to her. She pressed herself into his arm and looked around to see if anyone was going to suggest anything.

Murtagh sighed and mumbled something about food. They walked across a hall and found a comfortable seating area with squishy chairs and low tables. She and Thorn shared a wide seat and she leaned her head on his shoulder, willing sleep to come again.

The others exchanged some terse words and she heard someone go away to order food. She relaxed into Thorn and let the rest of the world reduce to a buzz. Vaguely, she registered the engine of the boat start up, and, a few minutes later, the choppy sea as they began moving. It wouldn't take too long to reach France, but she wished it would. She was very comfortable here, curled up to Thorn, with his arm wrapped around her and the softness of the chair soothing her body.

* * *

A short time later whoever it was that went away to get food returned and she dug into the jacket potato that had been ordered for her. It was a long time since she'd had a hot meal and her stomach rumbled appreciatively. When the food was finished she settled back against Thorn and fell asleep with a full stomach and a warm arm around her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Wow, I'm so sorry about the wait - nearly 8 weeks, jeez! College just bogged me down so much I had no time to update! But half term has provided some breathing space for me to write another chapter. I'll try and get another in before I start again but no promises! Enjoy!**

* * *

The sound of shouting woke her. It was probably only half an hour since she'd fallen asleep, but at some point her neck had fallen into an odd angle and she had a kink to contend with as well. _Fucking brilliant_.

She made a whining noise and squirmed deeper into Thorn's chest, trying to escape the stabbing pain in her skull and the loud noises assaulting her ears like war mongers. The shouting cut off straight away and for a second she thought that she'd only been imagining it.

"Laya?" Thorn's chest vibrated a little as he spoke and did nothing to soothe her pain.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to evade the sensations in her body and was entirely unsuccessful. She clenched her fists and felt the fabric of Thorn's polo crinkle underneath her fingers – it was oddly soothing.

"Laya…did the shouting wake you?"

She clamped her hands over her ears, twisting so she could curl up into a ball, ignoring his question and willing herself to fall back to sleep. She felt him sigh.

"Fuck's sake, you woke her!" He hissed, immediately getting her gratitude for lowering his voice.

"Oh, I'm _sorry!_ But _someone _was being a –"

"Finish that sentence, why don't you?" Someone else cut in sharply.

"I was about to, when you- -"

"Just shut up! Both of you!" She flinched at Thorn's volume and he squeezed her in apology.

"Urgh, stop treating her like such a princess! She's –"

"Say _one more _word –" She knew it was Murtagh this time.

"Yeah? What you gonna do? Start a fight and you'll disturb your precious little who –"

"Eragon!"

"Whatever, Roran. You know it's true – she's slept with more guys than –"

"Than _what, Er-a-gon? _Go on, say it and I'll greet your face with my fist."

"You're only saying that because she's in your bed every other night. You know it's true too."

Alea cried out in protest as Thorn lurched, effectively throwing her to the floor. At the same time she heard the distinct sound of a punch being landed. She opened her eyes to find Thorn grappling with Tag and Roran pulling a shouting Eragon away from the seating area.

"She's a fucking whore and a bully! She deserves to be kidnapped and raped and tortured and killed and I don't even know why I'm here!"

More insults were thrown her way but she zoned them out, trying desperately to quench the pain beating the insides of her skull. She sprang up off the floor and fled away from the scene, the sounds of her heavy footsteps echoing in her ears.

* * *

She didn't know where she was going. She just needed to get out. Her throat was closing up and her lungs were straining and she couldn't get in enough air.

* * *

_On a boat. No way out._

* * *

_Help. Please…someone…_

* * *

_Can't breathe._

* * *

_The pain…_

* * *

_I'm going to be taken by strangers and taken to South America and killed._

* * *

_I'm going to die._

* * *

_I'm going to die._

* * *

Suddenly out on the deck and the rain was lashing down around her.

* * *

She was alone and it was dark and she was scared.

* * *

She raised her head to the sky and gasped, begging for the air to make its way into her lungs but it didn't. The rain drenched her but she didn't notice.

* * *

_Panic attack. I'm having a panic attack. I just need to breathe…just breathe…_

* * *

Slowly the world came back into focus and the pain sharpened her vision. She was more alert and the air was circulating. She forced her chest to move evenly, ignoring the stinging behind her eyes and the lump in her throat.

_I will not cry. I will not cry._

_I never cry._

_God…it hurts so much…_

She wished she had the pain killers with her but they were inside and she didn't – couldn't – want to go back in. Not with the funny smells and the leering men and the shouting and the fighting.

She sank down against the dirty white railings and leant her head against the metal. It was cold and soothing against her forehead. The sea below her frothed with the turmoil of the engine, the white foam boiling up angrily, in protest of its treatment.

Her breathing quickened again and she felt as though she was going to be sick.

_I will not cry. I will not cry._

_I never cry._

* * *

Sometime later there were footsteps on the deck and then a warm body sank down next to hers in the soaking wet and the freezing cold.

Thorn wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close, stroking her sopping her and cheeks:

**"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."**

The rocked back and forth and moved further away from home.

* * *

Half an hour later he'd bundled her inside and bought her a towel. He'd insisted on accompanying her into the deserted bathroom while she stripped in a cubicle and dried off. He'd bought her a set of the exact same clothes from the same shop, but thankfully it was a young woman behind the counter this time who'd smiled and offered sympathetic looks.

The voice over announced that they were ten minutes from port and that everyone should return to their cars. Alea began to shake violently again at the thought of going back to the noise and arguing and the pain it would bring.

"Shh, Laya, it's okay, they won't fight anymore, they promised…it's okay…I know…"

She quivered in his arms until her breathing calmed again. Damn the stupid drug for putting her emotions of high alert. She was never usually like this. But Thorn understood because he knew what the drug did and he'd experienced it himself. He knew what scared her now and how to comfort her.

She detached herself from him and re-applied her ruined make-up with a shaking hand, thanking God that she'd left it all on the counter before. When she was done Thorn swept the lot into a plastic bag that had held her clothes and picked up the pile of stuff he'd purchased for her, slinging it over his shoulder and guiding her out.

* * *

When they reached the car, Eragon, Roran and Murtagh were already sitting in stony silence. Roran and Murtagh were in the front, but this time Roran was at the wheel because apparently Murtagh couldn't be trusted to drive when he was pissed off.

Thorn got in the car first so she wouldn't have to sit next to Eragon and helped her trembling fingers do her seatbelt. He shot a sharp glare at Murtagh and then set about making sure she was as comfortable as possible using the stuff he'd bought for her in the shops inside.

First came the woollen fingerless gloves to try and warm her hands a little. Then he wrapped a soft scarf around her neck that looked about five miles long and piled the two blankets over her. She giggled softly as he made a big show of 'tucking her in'. She knew he was trying to cheer her up and it worked…every girl loved to be made a fuss off. He pulled her hood up over her head and then gave her the extra strong pain killers and the bottle of water he'd got from the pharmacy store. There was no chance for a hot drink but that didn't matter so much now. He'd gotten a huge bag of food and she started into a packet of sandwiches while resting her head on his shoulder.

The ferry engine juddered to a stop and the vibrations jarring her whole body ceased – only for Roran to start the car engine. She didn't feel sleepy at all any more – but she knew she would soon. The heaters came on softly and blew warm air onto her feet before she began to feel her seat warming up and thanked whoever had thought to put that feature in the Range Rover when it'd been made.

They waited their turn and then drove out onto French soil. She and Thorn shared a packet of Starburst while they waited in line to get through border control. She nabbed all the green ones first and giggled when he pretended to be (quietly) outraged.

She didn't bother to listen to Murtagh taking in French with border control so had no idea what her new name was – no doubt she had some weird new fake passport. They were waved through and soon enough they were heading down the motorway. The road was quiet at night and the clock said it was nearing three in the morning before she finally drifted off, the rain drumming soothing rhythms on the metal roof.

* * *

"Laya…"

"Mhph…"

_Quiet laughter._

"Laya, come on, we're here."

"Ngg…"

_More laughter._

"Just carry her. I'll get the blankets and stuff."

She felt Thorn's warm arms enclose her and snuggled into his chest.

* * *

_Dim lighting outside her eyelids. She squirmed and moaned at the pain it initiated in her skull._

_The feeling of a soft bed underneath her and the comforting murmurs of quiet discussion. _

_Someone pulled the duvet over her and put her head on the pillows and made to move away but she reached out sleepily and caught their wrist._

* * *

When the woke the sound of a kettle was rumbling. She nestled herself deeper into the covers and squeezed her fingers experimentally, feeling a warm arm.

"Finally awake?"

She blinked a few times and looked up into Thorn's face. He had both his hands behind his head and was smiling laughingly at her. She smiled hesitantly back and started to sit up. Her head throbbed and she looked around for more pain killers.

"Want a drink?" Murtagh's voice drifted over from in front of the double bed just as she located them on the bedside table. She swallowed a couple and then nodded wearily at him.

"Hot chocolate, please."

"Coming right up."

"Tag?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm still gonna kick your butt for this. When this drug wears off you'd better run _real _fast."

"Oh, don't worry," He told her dryly while stirring a carton of milk in to her cup, "I heard all about what you're planning to do to me last night when you were rambling before you fell back to sleep."

"I was rambling?"

"Yup," Thorn slung an arm around her shoulders, "Right about the time you asked me to stay in your bed and 'punch Eragon'…"

"Hey! I didn't hear that part!" Came the boy's voice from over in the corner.

She looked over. The room they were in was large and housed a double, a single and a sofa bed. There was a door to the side leading to an en-suite and a table underneath a small plasma screen on the wall holding a kettle, microwave and an assortment of drinks. Roran and Eragon were sitting on a couple of squashy chairs by the door, watching the news as it flashed on mute on the TV. She was amused by the shadow of purple underneath on of Eragon's eyes where Murtagh had hit him. Well, the sod had been asking for it. The time on the screen read 13:24 but she didn't want to look at it for too long as the brightness hurt her eyes.

"I'm not gonna apologise," She muttered stubbornly, "You were a dick to me yesterday. I slept for ages…"

Thorn chuckled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "Yup. But it's okay, we were fine without you. I would have gotten up but you kept moaning in your sleep every time I tried to move so I decided to stay put."

"You're warm," She defended hotly, "Why would I want you to move?"

She ran a hand through her hair and realised it was coming out of its ponytail. She probably looked like shit. Accepting the steaming mug that Tag handed her she leant against the headboard.

"Your Dad called when you were asleep but we didn't wanna wake you," Roran stood and made his way over, obviously to get himself a drink.

She blinked, realising it was the first time he'd addressed her. He was probably mad at her for being horrible to his cousin since Eragon had obviously been telling stories but he appeared calm. Maybe that came from being a fuzz.

"Oh." Was all she said back.

She was still angry with her father for forcing this on her and didn't really want to speak to him at the moment. She was suddenly glad she'd been asleep so long.

"We also got ourselves a house in southern Spain – the pictures looked alright and it's got six bedrooms so that's plenty. It's got a pool too and a great view and it's in this tiny little village. It'll be great!" Thorn bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

"Since when did you become a property expert, Thorn?" Tag asked sarcastically.

"Shu'p."

"You can have a shower and then we'll put all the blankets and stuff back in the car and start to drive down. We'll have to stop for petrol and stuff on the way though," Roran offered her pleasantly.

"Oh." She said.

* * *

She stood under the heat of the shower, scrubbing at her naked body with the hotel's own body wash. Regretfully, she turned off the water and stepped out, using the provided towels to dry and dressing in the same clothes as yesterday. She knew she'd have to wear them for another day at least before they got to the house and it would probably take longer. She hoped it was as nice as Thorn said it was.

She felt weird to be going back to Spain after all these years, but she'd have to deal with those thoughts later. For now she just focused on applying her make-up, thanking Thorn for thinking to bring it all with them.

When she came out of the bathroom she felt one million times better. She was clean, had brushed teeth and hair and smelled of fruity-goodness. She carried her hoody over one arm as they checked out of the hotel and made their way out to the car. This time Eragon sat in the front passenger seat while Murtagh switched to the back, the blankets piled in the foot wells.

They pulled out onto the main road and she munched on a packet of crisps as they set off towards the next few months of their lives together.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Didn't manage to get an update in the same week, but I had some time tonight to write one. This chapter began as just a filler but it does continue the story somewhat. It's slightly longer than usual but that's cuz I wanted to get the whole 'they drive down and get to the house and go shopping' thing out of the way before I could continue the story. Sorry about that. Tried to make it as exciting as possible!**

* * *

It was dark by the time they reached the border, and there had been several switches round of the driving. She'd been cursed with an alert period, so for the whole journey she'd had to sit suffering the pain of her headache which refused to abate. She didn't feel much like talking so had sat in complete silence for the whole ride down, staring out of the window into the French sun and sky. When the sun had finally sunk beyond the horizon at about half past nine Murtagh received a text from her Dad saying that they needed to call as soon as they got into Spain. She'd scowled and almost snapped that 'why should he care, he sent me away' but refrained.

There was a long queue to finally reach the cabins that housed border control, and it had taken them 2 hours to even near the front.

"Urgh…how long is this gonna take?" Eragon whined, finally breaking his silence.

"Another half an hour? But it'll probably take longer if I snap your neck and chuck your body out of the car because I'd have to explain to the officials _just _how annoying you are before they'd understand and let us go," Murtagh hit back, his temper sore from having driven for the past three hours.

"Watch it, mate." Roran's voice came quietly but darkly from next to Alea who was sat in between the two boys.

"Oh, what're you gonna do, fuzz? Arrest me?" Murtagh turned around and started taunting him, "Oh wait, I forgot that you can't do that here…"

"I don't need to arrest you to get the idea that you need to back off into that thick skull of yours."

"Well, fuck me, is that a threat? And here I was, thinking that you were the civil one."

Alea took a deep breath, willing herself to not throttle the pair of them. Roran rolled his eyes and snorted:

"I only appear to be civil to you because I don't snort coke and murder innocent people."

"How stupid are you to say stuff like that in an enclosed space full of guns? I may not murder innocent people but I could certainly make an exception this time…" Murtagh threatened. Thorn grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him around to face the front again.

"We're not getting into this, Tag," He muttered under his breath, "Not now."

They fell into silence, much to the joy of Alea.

* * *

About forty minutes later they were called forward. Tag rolled the Range Rover up to the nearest booth and flashed a dazzling smile at the young woman inside.

"Bonjour!" He cried in a happy, French accent, making her blush furiously.

"Êtes-vous français?" She asked him excitedly, leaning forward and pressing her non-existent breasts together.

"Non, mademoiselle," Murtagh laughed, "Mais ma cousine est. Je suis Espagnol."

Her face fell ever so slightly, but she twiddled a strand of her mousy brown hair and reached for their passports. After checking them, she passed them back. Since there was no way that she, Roran and Eragon could pass for Spaniards, it had obviously been decided that they were French relatives going to stay with the two Spanish men. The car was checked and no weapons found (yet again) and they were finally free to move through.

As they drove away Murtagh started laughing at something in his hand. Thorn leant over so that he could see what it was and snorted, shaking his head.

"Trust you to pull on our first day, Tag…"

"Is that your way of calling me a player?"

"What do you think? She put her number in your passport, oh my – sleek…" He continued to chortle for the next ten minutes, teasing the brunette relentlessly.

Murtagh pulled over in a lay by and pulled out his phone so that he could call her Dad and she willed herself to sleep, closing her eyes and shutting out all the noise. Because of the Bluetooth connection of the Range Rover, the loudspeaker played through the speakers in the car and she had no choice to listen to what was going on.

Galbatorix answered on the first ring.

"Murtagh."

"We've just passed border control."

"Good. It took longer than expected but there should be no more complications. We've smoothed out the earlier…wrinkle."

"It wouldn't have been too much of a problem. It should take us about 9 hours to get to the house so we'll be there by mid-morning counting stops."

"Good. Are you in the car?"

"Yep. But you can't speak to Laya cuz she's pretending to be asleep."

She raised a hand to flick him off and heard her Dad sigh.

"You're being a typical woman, Alea."

She refused to answer.

He sighed again.

"Call me when you get to the house."

There was the beep of the connection breaking and silence filled the car again.

* * *

She drifted in and out of a state of half consciousness throughout the night, soothed by the sounds of deep breathing and only disturbed when Thorn swapped places with Tag at the wheel and then Roran after that. Driving through Spain at night was oddly quiet, but she didn't mind because it meant that there were few headlights coming the opposite way to annoy her. It was warm enough in the care but she covered herself with a blanket anyway because she felt odd sleeping without one. Not that she was sleeping anyway. Obviously her body hated her.

Eragon, Murtagh and Thorn stirred early in the morning when the sun rising above the ground made it impossible to stay asleep. By this point she was seriously frustrated that she hadn't slept. Her eyes were sore from being open for so long and her mind was numb, yet her body was alert and humming. She passed the time imagining ways to kill Murtagh but even that got boring. She tossed and turned in silence, willing herself to go to sleep but nothing worked. She wanted to punch someone and it was unfortunate that Eragon was sitting next to her because her fingers kept twitching. Everyone could sense her irritation and the fact that she hadn't slept and in the end Thorn made Roran pull over so that he and Eragon could swap before she punched him.

She tried to curl up against Thorn but every position was uncomfortable and the sunlight hurt her eyes even more than it had before and the hum of the engine was too loud.

Thorn was stroking her hair but even that didn't calm her down.

She was too hot and she was shivering and she was irritated and she was tired and she was in pain and she wanted it to stop.

She put her hands over her face and tried to hide just how upset she was but her fingers trembled and her breath heated up her skin and made her sweat and her legs itched.

She took deep breaths and focused on not smashing a window and screwed her eyes shut but that made her face hurt so she relaxed again.

_I will not cry._

_I never cry._

* * *

They arrived on the outskirts of a tiny village at about half past ten. Murtagh took the driver's seat so he could find the house and she fumed that she had to sit up because Roran would no way allow her to put her feet in his lap like Murtagh had. Thorn gripped her hand, reminding her that they didn't have long left before she could get into a bed and relax. She gripped back fiercely, trying to distract herself from the noise of the air cons and the hum of the engine.

As they wound their way through the little streets she couldn't help but notice that all the houses were white and had pretty red, tiled roofs. She lightened up at the fact that she was back in Spain after so long away, but didn't feel in the mood for smiling. She could smell salt in the air but they were probably about twenty minutes from the coastline. It didn't really matter to her as long as they had a pool.

And finally, after what seemed to be millennia, they turned into a long driveway lined on either side by palm trees. At the end appeared a beautiful white villa with huge glass windows and a pale roof. There was a colonnade running around the sides and balconies from the first floor and roof.

Tag rolled to a stop and they scrambled to get out, pushing at one another. They left the food and stuff in the car and trudged up to the front door, dazzled by the pretty villa. The keys were located somewhere in the colonnade and they let themselves in, sighing at the coolness that the white walls provided. She didn't have time to take anything in before Thorn grabbed her hand and tugged her away to find one of the bedrooms. He had to practically haul her up the stairs to the first floor and she couldn't go any further than that, so he opened the first door he saw and led her in gently.

The mercy of a huge, white bed stood out to her and she barely noted the large swimming pool and palm trees out of the window before she collapsed onto it.

"Do you want me to stay?" Thorn asked quietly, not disturbing the mute of the room. She nodded tiredly and he shut the door, "You're gonna be too hot sleeping in those clothes, Lay."

She blinked up at him, "I'm too tired…"

"No, come on, you need to get comfy or you'll never sleep."

"Fuck you…" She mumbled, fumbling with her top. She managed to slip it off oh-so ungracefully and then scrambled tiredly out of her three-quarter lengths, leaving her in just her bra and knickers. She didn't even notice him shedding his own clothes and barely registered him crawling under the thin sheet with her before her body finally crashed.

* * *

It felt like only a few hours later when she woke up.

All of a sudden she had no headache and no sore eyes and she smiled, nestling closer into the blankets.

"Something you'd like to share?"

Her eyes flew open at the sound of another voice because she was acutely aware that she wasn't wearing very much. She was greeted with the sight of a bare chest, tanned and muscled lightly. She recoiled in shock, staring up at Thorn's very amused face.

"You –"

He chuckled, "Did you forget that you asked me to stay last night?"

Oh yes, now she remembered. Oh, well.

"Oh."

"Mm."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Hmm? Not long. About three hours."

"Oh."

"What were you smiling about?"

"I don't have a headache any more!" She smiled, and then frowned, "Well…only if I concentrate _reeeaallllyyy _hard." And then she smiled again.

"Right…" He laughed, "Well not to wipe that smile off your face, but I don't think you should ask me to stay again."

"Why?"

"Well one, you kept poking me and telling me to 'stop being so hot', and then two, you starting telling me that you were too hot and you wanted to take the rest of your clothes off…"

"No!" She gasped, looking down at herself to make sure he hadn't let her undress.

"Don't worry," He laughed, "I didn't let you…but you were quite keen on the idea and told me to 'fuck off' when I stopped you." He seemed to find it highly amusing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was saying, I was-"

"Being honest?" He raised an eyebrow.

She blushed. _Probably. _

"Hey, I'm not complaining…"

"What do you mean?" She eyed him suspiciously through her lashes, shifting against the mattress.

He stared, "Are you serious?"

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"You are! Come _on, _Lay! Do I have to be any more obvious?"

"Huh?"

He sighed. "I ask you if you want me to stay in your bed, I tell you to take your clothes off and I take off my own. What does that suggest?"

"Oh…" She said, pretending she understood, "Sorry, my brain's still fuzzy, I'm a bit slow."

He looked at her, "You still don't get it, do you?"

"Nope."

"Laya."

"Yes?"

He leant forward so that their faces were inches apart and stared right into her eyes, "Do you understand now?"

She blinked.

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh."

"Good."

He straightened again and the breath on her lips was gone. She watched him for the longest time.

"Is it?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it good?"

He frowned, "Are you saying you –"

"I'm not saying anything!"

"Then what-"

"I was just-"

"What?"

"Well if you'd let me-"

"Explain?"

"Yes!"

"Okay."

"Okay!"

There was a silence.

"So?"

"Urgh…"

"What?"

"I..I can't remember…" She scowled at him, "It's your fault, Thorn. You made me forget!"

"You asked me if it was a good thing if you knew…"

"Knew what?"

He narrowed his eyes, "No. I'm not going to play that game. I know what you're doing, Laya…"

"So? Just go along with it. Just say it."

"Why? You know."

"There," she said, "That's why it isn't a good thing!"

"Because I won't play games?"

"No! Because you won't say it. Because you had to stare at me instead of telling me."

"Telling you what?"

"Don't you turn this around on me, Thorn! If you want it to be a good thing you say it or forget it!"

"Why don't you say it?"

"Fine, just go then. And I'll do what you say: I _won't _invite you to stay again! Because maybe _you _didn't notice, but you weren't the only one giving hints!"

"Fine!" He stood up and marched over to his clothes. She didn't even bother watching.

He slammed the door behind him.

* * *

She emerged an hour later and found them sprawled on the plush leather sofas. She completely ignored Thorn, marching over to the others and demanding to get some decent clothes and some food. They all agreed and it seemed as though they couldn't get in the car fast enough. Luckily there was a decent town centre and they called in at a fast food restaurant before they could do anything else.

Alea made a show of avoiding Thorn and he her, both of them refusing to even look at each other while trying to make sure that the other was looking at them. She was feeling so much better, and was so desperate to make Thorn feel bad that she snuggled up to Murtagh as they ate, laughing at what he said and smiling constantly at Eragon.

After they'd finished eating, they trawled the shops, the boys finding what they wanted in just one shop, while she went in at least ten different clothes shops. She picked out more than four hundred euros worth of clothes and shoes before moving onto the drug store. In each shop Murtagh would laugh and whip out one of the never ending cards that her dad supplied and she'd bat her eyelashes winningly. She made a huge show of choosing the sexiest underwear that she could find and made them all wait while she tried them on. She picked out her favourite make-up but ignored the foundation and heavier concealers because the heat would make her uncomfortable. She choose the perfume Nina, because although it was a little old, it was a beautiful smell. They all grabbed their preferred selection of bathing products, razors and deodorants and Murtagh paid for it with the beautiful shiny plastic that was so loved by her.

The final stop was a supermarket that was so small she mistook it for a garage at first. But as long as it stocked good food, nothing else mattered. They drove home with the car full of bags and she dived straight in the shower in her en-suite bathroom so that she could prepare.

She scrubbed her body with a fruity body wash and ran her sweet-smelling shampoo through her hair at least four times before she started conditioning. She'd been deprived of personal hygiene for so long that she felt like she needed the extra. She carefully shaved her legs and under her arms before stepping out and drying off. She wrapped a towel around herself before using the mirror on the wall to pluck her eyebrows and apply waterproof eyeliner and mascara. She used a clear gloss for her lips and used liberal sprays of the perfume. After running a brush through her hair, she went to her bags and found one of the bikinis she'd bought. It was royal blue with gold hoops and suited her pale skin perfectly. It was skimpy – but not too skimpy. It left the perfect amount of skin covered and enhanced her cleavage. She slipped on a sheer blue beach dress before grabbing a towel and making her way downstairs.

A set of glass sliding doors led outside and she made her way down to the pool. It was probably about 30 degrees and the sun was shining brightly. The boys were already out there, either in the pool or lying on the sun loungers, but they all turned and stared at her as she approached. She ignored them, dumping her towel on a spare sun lounger and slipping out of the beach dress. She sauntered over to the pool and slid in, revelling in the lush warm water.

They spent the next few hours frolicking in the pool and sun bathing. At times, she'd step out of the pool and lie on the sun lounger to try and get a tan. She never burned so wasn't worried about sun cream, but Roran and Eragon weren't so lucky. They applied a little every hour or so because their skin was so pale that there was no way they'd escape without burning. When she sun bathed she'd lie on her front and undo the back of her bikini top. It was partly to avoid getting tan lines, and partly to make Thorn jealous.

It was about 8 o'clock when the smell of beautiful cooking brought them trailing inside to find Roran preparing food.

"Where the fuck did you learn to cook like that?!" Murtagh was practically salivating.

Roran laughed, "Maybe living in a house without a hundred different servants was a good thing for me…"

"They aren't servants…" came the mumbled reply. They all hurried upstairs to change before the meal disappeared.

Alea put on a matching set of pink underwear and short denim shorts with a see-through, form fitting white tank top. She clacked downstairs in a pair of flip flops and seated herself happily at the table, trying to watch Thorn out of the corner of her eye and see what his reaction was to her appearance.

* * *

**Sorry about my awful French, I took it for 6 years but stopped about 2 years ago so I'm definitely rusty! I could barely remember the basic words...if you want to see what the villa looks like just go to my profile and click the link :)**


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